NJ mom turns her experiences into a book and blog

A Monmouth County mother has turned her experiences of raising two children, one with special needs, into a book and a blog.

Belmar resident Kathy Chlan wrote the book “Maternally Challenged: How My Special Needs Son Taught Me To Sack Up And Laugh!” and also has a blog called “Unfiltered Mom.” It is all about her experiences with motherhood.

Chlan says that it all started with her keeping journals.

“I would write down. Every day…even if it was just one word. I'd be like ‘Great day’ or ‘Oh my God, I want to pull my hair out,’” she says.

Those journals eventually turned into a more structured project.

She says that she has all types of stories, such as the time a bully wrote on her learning disabled son Casey’s head with a permanent marker. She says that during a meeting with the bully’s mother and the school principal the bully’s mother mocked Casey herself.

“The principal could not get to me fast enough. I hit her. I do not condone physical violence,” Chlan says with a laugh.

Chlan’s children are grown now – Casey is 25 years old and her other son Christian is 22.

She says that she has one piece of advice for young parents.

“You have to let the expectations you had in your head go. Because the reality, I feel, is sometimes so much better. The good, the bad, the ugly, you have to embrace it. And you have to laugh,” Chlan says.

The largest U.S. seller of San Marzano tomatoes, known to food lovers as the best tomatoes to make pasta sauce, has been hit with two federal lawsuits claiming what's inside the can isn't the real thing.

The largest U.S. seller of San Marzano tomatoes, known to food lovers as the best tomatoes to make pasta sauce, has been hit with two federal lawsuits claiming what's inside the can isn't the real thing.